Formerly known as the Essence Music Festival, the event is now officially the Essence Festival, to better reflect its range of cultural offerings.

Those offerings will again include three full days of free empowerment seminars in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Scheduled speakers include Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. John Lewis and Dr. Steve Perry. The convention center will also host a gospel tribute to pastor Donnie McClurkin and Tramaine Hawkins.

“The decision to rebrand the Essence Festival was a natural progression for this one-of-a-kind event, which has become a July 4th weekend tradition over the past 19 years,” said Essence Communications president Michelle Ebanks in a statement. “The Essence Festival combines music, entertainment, culture, community, empowerment and inspiration to create a completely transformative experience across four full days that you won’t find anywhere else on the planet. We feature the world’s top performers each night across eight live music and cultural stages and we bring the ‘page to the stage’ by bringing Essence magazine to life at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the day.”

Now in its 19th year, Essence was founded as a celebration of Essence
Magazine’s 25th anniversary. Except for 2006, every Essence Fest has
been staged in the Superdome.